Future Tech Nabs Murder-Rape Suspect From Bell-Bottom Era

Talk about back to the future. A 16-year-old boy allegedly rapes and murders an 80-year-old Venice woman -- in 1975. He gets away with it, alleges the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, until 34 years later, when DNA testing puts him at the scene of the crime.

Today the 50-year-old man was in juvenile court in Inglewood facing a judge who will decide whether or not he will be tried as a juvenile. Because he was 16 at the time of his alleged crime, his name was withheld by the D.A.

In case number YJ33693 Alice Lewis was raped and strangled on Dec. 17, 1975. There's a special allegation that the suspect committed violence during the commission of a burglary. This means that, if convicted, prosecutors can try to throw the death penalty at him. The DNA evidence, on file for years, was just matched to the suspect three weeks ago, the D.A.'s office reported today.

If the judge rules the man can be tried as an adult, the D.A. will have to refile the case in superior court.

Just think, when the crime went down, Venice was still a rat hole with waves, the car wash from the movie Car Wash still existed in the Westlake District and, if you told someone you would one day be able to buy grass legally from hundreds of storefronts across the city, they'd call you high. If the case holds, karma will indeed be a bitch.

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